Page 3 of How To Summon A Memory
Squeals peal out from Lettie and Kayla. I shield my face with my arms. The other three students thankfully had time to listen to Tanner’s warning and dropped to the floor.
“Is everyone okay?” I ask as sweat breaks out on my hairline and I swallow over and over, trying to keep bile from rising.
“Ethan?” Florence reaches for my hands and tugs me closer to them as I shake. I’m not scared of what happened. I’ve had much worse happen to me or around me, but I’m not reacting well to something in the potion.
“Prof?” Tanner’s eyes go wide and he races to me just as my knees collapse.
“Someone go get Abigail!” Florence commands so loudly in my ear I wince.
“I’m fine,” I wheeze out, absolutely not fine at all. My head spins. What the hell is happening? “Everyone okay?”
Florence rips the cuffs of my sleeves open, exposing my forearms, and I hear the ridiculous whimpers from a few of our students. I mean… rolled up sleeves is my catnip, but this isn’t the time.
“What have I done?” Tanner paces behind the table.
“I don’t think this is your fault,” I say behind gritted teeth as Florence picks glass from my arm.
Lettie’s and Kayla’s eyes go wide.
“What do you mean?” Lettie asks as she clasps her hands behind her back, no doubt trying to look innocent.
Florence backs away from me as I push to my feet.
I wipe the sweat from my brow while I take a shaky step closer to Lettie and Kayla. “Are you aware that Tanner takes every opportunity to use office hours and asks for tutoring? He’s actually very very competent and well on his way to being an excellent magic user. Yet when we get to the lab, his potions always find a way to backfire. Why would that be?” I glare at Lettie, then Kayla.
Lettie shrugs, and Kayla stands there, not meeting my glare.
“Does anyone know why I now suspect Tanner’s potions are being tampered with? Extra credit, if you’re right.” I’d thought he just had performance anxiety, but I know better now. I tremble at the effort of being on my feet. My vision goes hazy. I have to fight to keep upright and awake.
“Shit,” Florence whispers, so only I can hear as they catch me before my knees slam into the floor.
“I’m only allergic to one poison and I’m very careful never to touch it, let alone allow it in my classroom. It’s a little thing. Just tiny. But packs a big impact. Anyone know what it is?”
“Get havenhowl root. Now!” Florence barks the command as they frantically pick out the rest of the glass from my left arm while Tanner works on the right.
I’m on the edge of consciousness. When you’re allergic to something magical, most of the time it’s not as deadly as a food allergy or bee sting, anything, but it goes deep into your soul and wraps around until you don’t know if you’re dead or alive. And if you’re alive, you want to be dead. It’s cavenlock hallowroot for me, rumbling around and finding every pain and bad memory I’ve ever had and using it against me. Only my grandmother, the coven healer, and Florence know and Florence would never, ever use it against me.
Our arranged marriage has been a hot topic between the four covens of Hex since the announcement so many years ago. I’m the strongest witch in centuries. Again cliche, I know. And if I’mnot married or otherwise bonded with someone and sharing my magic by the time I turn twenty-five, I’ll be ripped apart by the very thing I love. Fun times, fun times. That’s all according to different tests conducted by every healer my grandmother could find. Everyone wants to pair me off with their child-bearing offspring and all I want is to be left alone… unless the demon in my dreams is real. Then I want to get to know them.
The last time I tried to get out of the arranged marriage, six years ago, memories went missing. I don’t even remember what I’d done because my grandmother stole the knowledge. I just don’t know how, what, or who, but I suspect it has something to do with that demon in my dreams. The demon now smiling at me from behind my closed lids. The demon whispering sweet words in my ear as I black out in Florence’s arms.
Chapter 2
Warwick
Something’s wrong.There’s an ache in my chest that throbs like my heart being ripped out. I scratch, hoping it’s just a bad case of heartburn.
“Another.” I lift my shot glass empty of HellFire.
Gabe gives methe lookas he fills my glass. The one that says I’m cutting your ass off soon, but notquiteyet. The nephilim’s too good to me, but he knows how I am. How I need to not feel for just a little bit.
What everyone doesn’t realize is that I come to Flutter and Fangs for intel on Ethan. He’s been missing for almost six fucking years to the day. One minute he’s in front of me ready to finally make his crossroads deal, but the instant he turns eighteen, he’s sucked through a portal and I haven’t seen him since.
I’ve searched the crossroads demon archive on how to find him. I even used some of Ethan’s old schoolbooks he gave me and nada. The only conclusion is his bitch of a grandmother did something to keep me from finding him and him from coming back to me.
But I digress. Flutter and Fangs is where most people come to hang out in Hex.
“Coming to the Halloween masquerade party?” Gabe gestures to the ridiculous glittery sign on the corner of the bar advertising said party. I’d take bets that Sparkle had something to do with the glitter. The cat shifter practically bathes in it.
